Improvement in wood-gas generators



W. D. PORTERIV Making Wood Gas.

N. PETERS. Fmb-Liuwgmpmf. washington, D. c.

UNiTED STATES IVILLIAM D. PORTER,

PATENT OFFICE.

on NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOD-GAS GENERATORS.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. PORTER, of New York, in the county andState of New York, havein vented a new and usefullm provement in a Stillfor Converting food into Carbureted I-Iydrogen or Illuminating Gas; andI do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exactdescriptien of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming part of this specification.

It has long been a desideratum to construct an apparatus for theproduction of gas from resinous wood wherein is combined economy offuel, simplicity of construction, and efficency of operation, and wherefrom the sale of the resid uum-viz., the charcoal-the expense may bematerially reduced. These results have been obtained in my improvementin the construction of the apparatus wherein the wood is subjected tothe action of heat, as in a still, by which the resinous products areeliminated and permitted graduallythat is, drop by drop-to fall upon ahighlyheated portion of the lower vessel, attached to the one in whichthe wood is placed, and are thus converted into carbureted-hydrogen gas,as well as all the volatile constituents of the wood-such as water,pyroligneous acid, &c.-are cominingled and subjected to the same violentheatin It has been found that the production of gas froln wood with thesame number of retortsin a given time is six times more than from coal,and that it does not affect the health, and is in so pure a condition asto require little or no puriiication before it enters the burners. Thearrangement is so simple that the still may be placed in an ordinarystove or replace used for heating dwellings, in the furnace of asteamboat or galley of a vessel, and by suitable pipes be distributed tothe burners.

To enable others skilled in the art to make' and use my invention, Iwill describe it, as follows:

In the accompanying drawing, A represents au ordinary stove. In it isplaced the still in a Vertical position. It consists of an iron cylinderB, provided with flanges a at its upper and b at its lower edges. Theupper end, after being charged with wood, is closed by a cap luted andbolted on the flanges a. The wood rests on a perforated diaphragm C',and by a rod or handle the diaphragm is drawn out, and with it thecharcoal. This diaphragm separates the cylinder from the gas-producingportion placed below the cylinder-wiz., a conical-shaped tight vessel D,within which is a smaller-sized vessel E, also conical, perforated withholes near its bottom or pointed end. Both these cones are provided withflanges corresponding with b of the cylinder, and by bolts and lute areunited thereto and made air-tight.

F is the escape-pipe of the gas from between Eand D,and is situateddirectly under the iianges of the cones.

The stove is provided with dampers, firegrate, duc., of the ordinaryconstruction, and the heat of the re-chamber, after acting directly onthe bottom and sides of the still, rises and circulates around thecylinderB and escapes into the smoke-stack through G.

As there is no tar formed in this Operation,

no provision for its collection is considered necessary, the resinousportion of the wood being decomposed on-Zdropping from the cyl inder.

The resolution of the wood is effected as follows: By the more moderateheat impinging on the cylinder B, charged with pine wood, the crudeturpentine or resinous portion of the wood is melted and permitted tofall upon the inner cone E, drop by drop, (as the production of it inlarge quantities without immediate decomposition would produce tar.)Through this cone it passes by the small holes or openings in the sidesof the cone E, and lfalls upon the highly-heated inner surface of cone Dand is instantly decomposed into resin-gas. The watery, spirituous, andother gases iirst eliminated iu the cylinder B, instead of beingpermitted to escape from the upper part thereof, descend through theperforated diaphragm through the Icone E, and are exposed to D, as thecrude resinous portions, and are mixed and commingled and decomposed,and ascend with the resin-gas between the inner cone E and outer cone D.In this Way the watery portions, as well as all the products ofdecomposition of the wood except the charcoal, are subjected to furtherdecomposition in the gaseous state.

From some experiments recently instituted, notices of which will befound in the journalsof 1852 and 1853, the mere Coln-A mingling of steamproduced from Water in a separate boiler with resin-gas has beensupposed to be of advantage; also, the decomposition of hickory Wood foreconomical illumination; but of hoW much `greater importlnust it be todecompose the gases from pine or resinous Wood, furnishing,` in itselfall the Constituents of a good gas, Without the production of theeondensible portions, (sometimes arising in other apparatus from resinitself,) as tar, pyroligneous, &e., and at the same time a Valuableresiduum in the char- Coal sufficient to pay the expense of productionof the illuminating-gas.

Having thus fully described the nature of my improvement, what I Claimas my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

lVitnesses:

S. W. THOMPSON,

A. PHILLIPS.

